Division I Women

Sheehan: Despite Wildcats' Team Approach, Fitzgerald is Go-To
Player

Erin Fitzgerald scored five goals
for the third straight game on Monday in Northwestern's 15-12 win
at Navy.

It is amazing to finally watch a lacrosse game and feel the warm
sun on your face. More importantly, it's nice to finally watch a
lacrosse game without seeing snow banks surrounding the field. Warm
weather must mean one thing: the 2013 lacrosse season is about to
heat up too.

I had the pleasure of calling the Northwestern-Navy game in Annapolis, Md., on
Monday afternoon. Two coaching legends squared off
against each other. Navy's Cindy Timchal won eight national
championships at Maryland and Kelly Amonte Hiller has won seven of
the last eight at Northwestern. The amount of success they both
have had is unreal. The impact these pair of National Lacrosse Hall
of Famers have had on the growth of the sport over the years has
been immeasurable. Heading into this game, Navy was the clear
underdog. Though Navy has been a force in the Patriot League, it is
still looking to be a force in the Top 20.

Navy's Aimee Gennaro scored the first two goals of the game. She
her teammates were not intimidated by the defending national
champs, and I was very impressed with the composure they showed. It
was a fun game as a spectator to watch; fast-paced with a lot of
goals and some excellent goalie and defensive play. Jasmine
DePompeo put up an All-American performance, putting up eight
points and shooting lights out once again for Navy. DePompeo scored
on five of her six shots, and has an insane 79 percent shooting
percentage on the season. Navy battled Northwestern until the final
minutes, falling 15-12.

On our CBS Sports Network conference call this week, Amonte
Hiller said that the Wildcats do not have a "go-to person" on their
attack. They are trying to have a different approach this year,
"more of a team approach," Amonte Hiller said, with a lot of
different threats. Northwestern showed that it does have many
threats, as the first six goals against Navy were scored by six
different players.

Despite this "change" in philosophy, however, Northwestern has
always had that standout attacker that you knew could will the
Wildcats to victory: Kristin Kjellman, Hannah Nielsen, Katrina Dowd
and Shannon Smith, to name a few. Senior Erin Fitzgerald has been
primed to take on that role for Northwestern, scoring 131 goals
over the last three seasons. With her third straight five-goal
performance this year, Fitzgerald seems to be easing into the go-to
player role nicely.

Although the score was knotted up several times during the game,
Northwestern went on a five-goal scoring tear in the second half
and Navy was not able to make up the deficit. The bright spot?
Navy's 12 goals are the most scored on Northwestern so far this
season.

As a side note, I was disappointed with the amount of
cross-checks in this game and, quite honestly, most games that I
watch. Just for reference, here is the language taken directly out
of the rulebook:

Cross-Check: Using the
shaft of the crosse to hit, push or displace an opponent. This
includes, but is not limited to, thrusting, jabbing, pushing or
displacing any part of an opponent's body.

Illegal Use of the Crosse:
Using the crosse in a dangerous and/or intimidating manner, for
example:

Lowering the head of the crosse
below shoulder level and initiating crosse-to-body contact

Unfortunately, cross-checks seem to be the norm when playing
defense and they appear to me to be rarely called. It seems that
the penalty for a cross-check (the defender going 4 meters behind)
is not deterring players from committing the foul. Something needs
to change. Referees need to call the cross-check fouls and card the
players when needed. The players, and coaches, will be forced to
adjust. Let's clean this game up.

Games to watch

Hopkins leading scorer Taylor D'Amore was held without a shot in
the 18-8 loss to Northwestern on Saturday. D'Amore did chip in two
assists, but the Blue Jays need her scoring power if they want to
win games. Georgetown needs to make adjustments after the loss to
Duke. The Hoys shot 10-for-33, 1-fo- 7 from the 8-meter and had
only three saves. Many of the same problems that plagued the Hoyas
last year. Johns Hopkins gets the edge with the home-field
advantage.

No. 13 Dartmouth (4-1) at No. 6 Duke (6-1), Noon
Sunday

Dartmouth likes to fly under the radar in the beginning of the
season. I see this game being a defensive battle. Dartmouth
goalkeeper Kristen Giovanniello's numbers are down this year. Her
save percentage dropped from 48 percent over the last two seasons
to 38 percent this year but she is still one of the best in her
position. Duke has a hot goalkeeper of its own. Freshman Kelsey
Duryea had 11 saves in the Blue Devils' win over Georgetown.

CBS Sports Network women's lacrosse analyst and 2001
Tewaaraton Award finalist Sheehan Stanwick Burch will be providing
a column for LaxMagazine.com every Tuesday throughout the
Division I women's college season. Follow Sheehan on Twitter
@StanwickBurch.